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The tossing of mortar boards across the university campuses of Europe and the US has been in full swing.

And the race is on from the world’s biggest companies to secure the brightest young graduate talent, if indeed, it has not already been snapped up.

Yet with the starting pistol having been fired, where does the world of finance, and in particular asset management, appear on graduates’ radars? How much are investment firms even opening their doors to the latest 20-somethings who are descending on the marketplace?

In the past few years, the signs within financial services have not been great. Fears have been expressed that the reputational pounding the industry had suffered since the crisis could well have persuaded emerging talent to look elsewhere. Furthermore, there have been continued rumblings that youngsters with sought-after skill-sets have been shunning the industry for the “cooler” tech firms such as Google and Facebook.

And the statistics appear to support these concerns. For 2009/2010 the number of higher education leavers pursuing a career in finance and accountancy had dropped to 26.4% from the 35.6% recorded for 2007/2008, according to a UK survey by the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

What is more, last year, international business school Insead reported that only 14% of its graduates went into finance, vastly eclipsed by the drive into the consulting and corporate sectors. But the school’s latest figures for its 2013 MBA graduates depict an improving landscape. Some 17% opted for finance. And specifically, of that proportion, 12% have embarked on careers in asset management. This was up by 2% compared to 2010.

Judging by this year’s rebound, it would appear that fears about a loss of appetite from the sharpest graduates for careers in finance and asset management may have been premature.

Andrew Breach, director and head of global banking and asset management at headhunter Page Executive, admits that despite the industry’s “bad press”, graduates “recognise that if you want to earn decent money, the City is still a very good place to do that”.

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Certainly, across the board in the City asset managers have told how competition is intense among job-seeking graduates. Indeed, according to one, some 2,000 people applied for just two graduate London-based roles this year.

Claire Appleton, HR business partner at Allianz Global Investors, said: “There’s certainly not a supply problem. Competition for roles is really strong and by the end of the process you can be left choosing between a selection of exceptional people.”

Page Executive’s Breach notes that despite having been viewed as “a bit more opaque” when compared to investment banking, there has been a growing interest in forging a career on the buyside. He said: “There are some [graduates] who see the asset management industry as a slightly more long-term aim after two or three years’ investment banking.

“[Investment banking] still has a deserved reputation for a long-hours culture, and although asset management jobs aren’t all going to be nine to five, there’s a little more of a balance there.”

Katie Pankhurst, head of campus recruitment for JP Morgan Asset Management Europe, the Middle East and Africa, maintains: “Candidates continue to be interested in asset management. The stability of the business and its continued growth have proven attractive to students starting their careers.”

Undoubtedly, the money on offer for graduates looking to forge a career in asset management proves attractive. According to Insead, the average salary of its 2013 leavers who went into the industry last year was €76,800, with a 55% sign-on bonus to boot.

The impetus seems to be coming from both directions. Douglas Reynolds, marketing and distribution consultant within asset management at headhunter Morgan McKinley, said: “It feels like there’s a lot more clients interested in graduates than previously. Previously [asset management] budgets were being cut and roles merged into one and we were not advertising positions at graduate level.”

Reynolds said that, in the past, asset managers looked to recruit people with previous experience who could hit the ground running. He added: “When the economy was bad, there was no time to invest and train. Now firms are able to invest and give opportunities to grads where they couldn’t before and this has been reflected by the economy picking up.”

But it is not only recruiters that are seeing growing interest in a career in asset management.

For its class of 2012/2013, CambridgeUniversity’s Judge Business School has reported that 14 of its 46 students pursued careers at either asset managers or hedge funds. This compares with 20 for investment banking.

Yet Marwa Hammam, executive director of the school’s Master of Finance course, believes that landing a job on the buyside is “probably one of the biggest themes for our students”, insisting that the lure of the “less brutal” asset management industry is a big factor.

The school runs a 12-month programme for students with, on average, up to five years’ experience in banking and finance. Most are looking to boost their chances of climbing the career ladder or to move into different financial sectors.

Hammam said: “We do have quite a number who come in from the sellside, such as investment banking research-type roles, who want to make the transition to the buyside.”

The impact of the financial crisis still appears to be resonating among the students the business school takes on annually. Hammam says, increasingly, many are looking to operate in areas of “sustainable finance” as opposed to what she describes as the “high-testosterone” mergers and acquisitions environment.

And asset management features prominently. “There is a focus on real value – actually doing research which can be implemented in investment decisions that can help a company build a portfolio – this feels a bit more tangible to them.”

Last year’s intake at the business school included 25 nationalities. Competition for places is strong, with access to London, one of the world’s biggest financial hubs, undoubtedly an attraction. Hammam said: “I’m always very impressed by how hard international students work. Many of them know they have to have that extra feather in their cap to get London market access and jump through the extra hoops.

Many spend more time networking or working towards their CFA [Chartered Financial Analyst].”

Page Executive’s Breach also notes this focused attitude of overseas students. He said competition from candidates from France, Germany and Italy was putting home-grown talent in the shade.

According to Breach, students from the continent often boast up to two years’ asset management-specific work experience when applying for graduate positions. Describing the difference in approach to internships in mainland Europe, Breach said: “[Internships] are not just somewhere where they get the tea or do the photocopying.

“In England students may work for three weeks at a hedge fund and then go scuba diving.

“It’s a cultural thing, traditionally European graduates have been happy to spend their [university] breaks on paid internships working but UK candidates have instead used that time to travel and take a rest before returning to their academic studies.”

This article was first published in the print edition of Financial News dated July 21, 2014